Proposals on border uncertain after British cabinet resignations

The British Government’s Brexit strategy- including proposals to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland- is in crisis following the resignations of two cabinet ministers on Monday 09 July.

On Friday 06 July, Prime Minister Theresa May hosted a Cabinet away day at her country retreat in Chequers. She said that in ‘detailed discussions the Cabinet has agreed our collective position for the future of our negotiations with the EU’.

However the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis resigned on Sunday night, and then the following day, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also went. Both were prominent Leavers and supporters of Brexit during the referendum.

EU Referendum NI Declaration, June 24 2016,(Pic: C Hanna)

In his resignation letter, Mr Johnson said Brexit should be about ‘opportunity and hope’.

“It should be a chance to do things differently, to be more nimble and dynamic, and to maximise the particular advantages of the UK as an open, outward-looking global economy.

That dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt.”

White Paper

Mrs May indicated the government policy initiatives and proposals for legislation known as the White Paper will be introduced on Thursday 12 July.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar‏ spoke with the Prime Minister on Saturday 07 July and ‘welcomed the proposals’ by the British Government which he said ‘can input into talks on the future relationship’ between the EU and UK. He added that he awaited detail in the white paper before ‘agreeing an EU position’.

“I very much await the full publication of the White Paper to examine the precise elements of Britain’s plan going forward. The detailed contents of this paper will prove an integral part of our party’s decision whether its proposals are workable or not.”

Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said the Chequers discussion was ‘to be welcomed’. He added the EU ‘will assess proposals’ to see if they are workable & realistic in view of European Council guidelines. The next negotiations on the EU/UK Withdrawal Agreement will be on the week beginning 16 July.

Speaking to the House of Commons on Monday 09 July, Theresa May said:

“What we are proposing is challenging for the EU…That is the only way to meet our commitments to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland and Ireland without damaging the constitutional integrity of the UK, and while respecting the result of the referendum. It is a balance that reflects the links we have established over the last 40 years…It is a bold proposal that we will set out as a White Paper on Thursday. I expect the EU to engage seriously with the detail and to intensify the negotiations over the Summer, so that we can can get the future relationship I believe is firmly in all our interests.”

-British Prime Minister Theresa May MP

Replying, British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed the Chequers Agreement was ‘a complex plan’ that is ‘bureaucratic and unwieldy’.

“The agreement contains no plan to protect the service industry. No plan to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland and also puts forward the idea of regulatory flexibility.”

-Jeremy Corbyn MP

Mr Corbyn called the Chequers Agreement a ‘shattered truce’, a ‘sticking plaster over the Cabinets’ cracks in this government’.

Backstop

DUP Westminster Leader Nigel Dodds also sought clarification on the EU’s backstop and the Prime Minister again confirmed the EU Protocol put forward by the EU ‘that would have effectively carved NI out away from the rest of the UK…and would have meant that border down the Irish Sea’ is ‘completely unacceptable’ to the UK government.

The 27 leaders at the last European Council meeting expressed their concern that ‘no substantial progress’ had yet been achieved on agreeing a backstop solution for Ireland/Northern Ireland.

Earlier on Monday, Michael Creed, Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine showed the President of the revolving EU Council, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, the border between Co Louth and Northern Ireland to see ‘first hand the importance of maintaining the status quo here’.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson were internal affairs for the Prime Minister.

Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Brexit Lisa Chambers has said that she hopes that the Brexit White Paper goes ahead despite the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson.

“It is imperative that these resignations do not completely derail the strategy agreed on Friday in Chequers, the detail of which is due to be elaborated on in the White Paper. This was scheduled to be published this week, and despite the events of today, every effort must be made to ensure that it is published and that negotiations continue as planned.

“The October deadline for agreeing a withdrawal agreement is fast approaching and the issue of the border remains unresolved. It is imperative that despite the resignations of two senior members of the UK Cabinet, Ireland’s interests remain to the fore and that our government continues to press for an agreement on a legally binding backstop and the protection in full of the Good Friday Agreement.”

-Lisa Chambers TD

Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald said that Ireland will not be ‘collateral damage’ as a result of what she called a ‘Tory Brexit civil war’.

“We have had a series of meetings today with business and industry leaders and they are very concerned by the whole sorry Brexit mess.

“Business and indeed economic progress and prosperity need certainty and stability, and the politics of Brexit have been anything but predictable over the last couple of years and particularly over the last twenty four hours.

“We’ve made it clear to those who have an interest in building and sharing prosperity, building the skills base, improving opportunities for apprenticeships and jobs that we are committed to the re-establishment of the power sharing institutions.”

However, given that the EU backstop has been rejected, it remains to be seen what the EU will make of the White Paper proposals on Northern Ireland, and indeed if there will be pressure on the Government to stick to the Chequers Agreement given the resignations.

Listen again to our interview with Dr Katy Hayward, Reader in Sociology at Queen’s University Belfast, and Fellow in the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice. Katy discusses with Ciarán Hanna why the issue of the border between NI and Ireland has become such a sticking point in the EU withdrawal negotiations, what is the backstop, and how can get a deal that would prevent the backstop kicking in:

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